The Marimba of Oaxaca, Mexico

Faustino González Rivera and Silverio Pastelín Navarro

"To the two marimba groups, here presented, we owe the most beautiful old tunes from the state of Oaxaca. The first one is a group of eight men playing on a very large marimba, nearly four meters long. The second group we discovered in a little hut in the outskirts of Oaxaca. Their instrument is small, hardly one meter and a half, and is played by three men. This small marimba has a very special sound, vibrating in an extremely moving way, and itgives a wonderful savor to the languid, sweet music of Oaxaca..."